Radar-optical fusion article and system

ABSTRACT

A radar-optical fusion article for attachment to a substrate is described. The radar-optical fusion article includes a first retroreflective layer which is configured to retroreflect at least a portion of light having a wavelength in a range from about 400 nm to about 2500 nm. The radar-optical fusion article includes a second retroreflective layer disposed adjacent to the first retroreflective layer. The second retroreflective layer is configured to retroreflect at least a portion of an electromagnetic wave having a frequency in the range from about 0.5 GHz to about 100 GHz.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure relates generally to articles used foridentification.

BACKGROUND

Driving assistance systems and autonomous driving assistance systemstypically use various sensors to detect objects around a vehicle. Forexample, an image sensor is used to identify objects in the field ofview of the image sensor by generating a spatial image. Some drivingassistance systems use radar sensors to provide information about speedand distance of the objects. However, these driving assistance systemsare not able to differentiate between objects in various scenarios. Forexample, in case of a micro-mobility device, such as an electricallypowered scooter, operated by a driver, the driving assistance system ofa vehicle may not detect the micro-mobility device as it has a smallerprofile compared to the driver. In other scenarios, the drivingassistance system may classify the micro-mobility device and the driveras a same entity (due to similar radar cross section) resulting in anerroneous detection. The driving assistance system may also be unable todistinguish between a pedestrian and the micro-mobility device.

SUMMARY

Generally, the present disclosure relates to a radar-optical fusionarticle for identification of a substrate to which the radar-opticalfusion article is attached. In one aspect, a radar-optical fusionarticle for attachment to a substrate is described. The radar-opticalfusion article includes a first retroreflective layer which isconfigured to retroreflect at least a portion of light having awavelength in a range from about 400 nanometer (nm) to about 2500 nm.The radar-optical fusion article includes a second retroreflective layerdisposed adjacent to the first retroreflective layer. The secondretroreflective layer is configured to retroreflect at least a portionof an electromagnetic wave having a frequency in the range from about0.5 gigahertz (GHz) to about 100 GHz.

In another aspect, a micro-mobility device is described. Themicro-mobility device includes a chassis having a rear wheel mount atone end and a front wheel mount at the other end with a chassis supportmember extending therebetween. The micro-mobility device includes achassis-supported rear wheel mounted to the rear wheel mount. Themicro-mobility device includes a chassis-supported front wheel mountedto the front wheel mount for turning steering movement with respect tothe front wheel mount and the chassis-supported rear wheel. Themicro-mobility device further includes a chassis-supported motorphysically coupled to the chassis and configured by a motor controllerto drive at least one of the chassis-supported front wheel or thechassis-supported rear-wheel for powered movement over a ground surface.The micro-mobility device includes the radar-optical fusion articleattached to at least a portion of the micro-mobility device. Theradar-optical fusion article includes a first retroreflective layerconfigured to retroreflect at least a portion of light having awavelength in a range from about 400 nm to about 2500 nm. Theradar-optical fusion article includes a second retroreflective layerdisposed adjacent to the first retroreflective layer. The secondretroreflective layer is configured to retroreflect at least a portionof an electromagnetic wave having a frequency in the range from about0.5 GHz to about 100 GHz.

In a further aspect, a system is described. The system includes a firsttransceiver configured to receive at least a portion of light having awavelength in a range from about 400 nm to about 2500 nm. The light isretroreflected from a first retroreflective layer of a radar-opticalfusion article configured for attachment to a substrate. The systemincludes a second transceiver configured to receive at least a portionof an electromagnetic wave having a frequency in a range from about 0.5GHz to about 100 GHz. The electromagnetic wave is retroreflected from asecond retroreflective layer disposed adjacent to the firstretroreflective layer. The system includes a controller communicativelycoupled to the first transceiver and the second transceiver. Thecontroller is configured to process the retroreflected electromagneticwave received by the second transceiver to determine a location of thesubstrate. The controller is configured to control the first transceiverto receive the retroreflected light from the first retroreflective layerbased on the location of the substrate. The controller is configured toprocess the retroreflected light received by the first transceiver togenerate an output signal identifying the substrate.

In a further aspect, an article configured for attachment to a substrateis described. The article includes a first retroreflective layerconfigured to retroreflect at least a portion of light having awavelength in a range from about 400 nm to about 2500 nm to a firsttransceiver. The article includes a second retroreflective layerdisposed adjacent to the first retroreflective layer. The secondretroreflective layer is configured to retroreflect at least a portionof an electromagnetic wave having a frequency in a range from about 0.5GHz to 100 GHz to a second transceiver. The retroreflectedelectromagnetic wave is processed to determine a location of thesubstrate. The first transceiver is controlled to receive theretroreflected light from the first retroreflective layer based on thelocation of the substrate.

In a further aspect, a computing device is described. The computingdevice includes one or more computer processors, and a memory includinginstructions that are executed by the one or more computer processors.The memory includes instructions that when executed by the one or morecomputer processors, cause the one or more computer processors toprocess at least a portion of light having a wavelength in a range fromabout 400 nm to about 2500 nm, wherein the light is retroreflected froma first retroreflective layer of a radar-optical fusion articleconfigured for attachment to a substrate. The memory includesinstructions that when executed by the one or more computer processors,cause the one or more computer processors to process at least a portionof an electromagnetic wave having a frequency in the range from about0.5 GHz to about 100 GHz, wherein the electromagnetic wave isretroreflected from a second retroreflective layer disposed adjacent tothe first retroreflective layer. The memory includes instructions thatwhen executed by the one or more computer processors, cause the one ormore computer processors to determine a location of the substrate basedon the processing of the retroreflected electromagnetic wave. The memoryincludes instructions that when executed by the one or more computerprocessors, cause the one or more computer processors to control a firsttransceiver to receive the retroreflected light from the firstretroreflective layer based on the location of the substrate, whereinthe retroreflected electromagnetic wave from the second retroreflectivelayer is received by a second transceiver.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

The disclosure may be more completely understood in consideration of thefollowing detailed description in connection with the following figures.The figures are not necessarily drawn to scale. Like numbers used in thefigures refer to like components. However, it will be understood thatthe use of a number to refer to a component in a given figure is notintended to limit the component in another figure labeled with the samenumber.

FIG. 1 is a conceptual diagram illustrating an example physicalenvironment having a transportation system that includes one or moremicro-mobility devices, in accordance with techniques of thisdisclosure.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example micro-mobilitydevice, in accordance with techniques of this disclosure.

FIG. 3A is a schematic diagram illustrating examples of radar-opticalfusion article, in accordance with techniques of this disclosure.

FIGS. 3B and 3C are schematic diagrams illustrating examples of thesecond retroreflective layer of radar-optical fusion article, inaccordance with techniques of this disclosure.

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram illustrating a filter layer of theradar-optical fusion article, in accordance with techniques of thisdisclosure.

FIGS. 5A to 5F are schematic diagrams illustrating various examples ofthe filter layer, in accordance with techniques of this disclosure.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram of a system for identifying the radar-opticalfusion article, in accordance with techniques of this disclosure.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram of a computing device for identifying theradar-optical fusion article, in accordance with techniques of thisdisclosure.

FIG. 8 is a flow diagram illustrating example operation of a computingdevice for identifying the radar-optical fusion article, in accordancewith techniques of this disclosure.

FIGS. 9-11 illustrate systems for implementing techniques and articlesof this disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In the following description, reference is made to the accompanyingfigures that form a part thereof and in which various embodiments areshown by way of illustration. It is to be understood that otherembodiments are contemplated and may be made without departing from thescope or spirit of the present disclosure. The following detaileddescription, therefore, is not to be taken in a limiting sense.

“Retroreflect” as that term is used herein, may include reflecting asignal back in the direction from which it came using a retroreflector(e.g., a corner cube or a Van Atta array).

FIG. 1 is a conceptual diagram illustrating an example physicalenvironment having transportation system 100 that includes one or moremicro-mobility devices, in accordance with techniques of thisdisclosure. In the example of FIG. 1, transportation system 100 includesa variety of different infrastructure elements (generally referred to as“infrastructure”). As shown in the example of FIG. 1, infrastructure mayinclude dedicated transportation pathways 102A-102D (collectively,transportation pathways 102) as well as infrastructure articles104A-104E (collectively, infrastructure articles 104) positioned andoriented within the environment.

As shown in FIG. 1, transportation system 100 includes one or moremicro-mobility devices 106A-106C (collectively, micro-mobility devices106). Examples of micro-mobility devices 106 include electricallypowered food delivery devices, electrically powered hoverboards orskateboards, electrically powered scooters, or other small-profiledevices that may use or travel upon a roadway or sidewalk.Micro-mobility devices 106 may operate on transportation pathways 102.As described in more detail with reference to FIG. 2, in this example,micro-mobility device 106 includes a chassis, a front wheel, a rearwheel, an electric motor, a steering assembly, and a radar-opticalfusion article 108 (also referred to as, article 108). In this example,the chassis includes a rear-wheel mount at one end of the chassis, afront-wheel mount at another end of the chassis that is opposite therear-wheel mount, and a chassis support extending horizontally betweenthe rear-wheel mount and the front-wheel mount. The front and rearwheels are mounted to the front and rear wheel mounts of the chassis,respectively. The front wheel mount is coupled to a steering assembly.In some examples, the steering assembly includes handlebars such thatturning the handle bars causes the front wheel to turn. In someexamples, the electric motor is physically coupled to the chassis and isconfigured by a motor controller to drive at least one of thechassis-supported front wheel or chassis-supported rear wheel forpowered movement over a ground surface.

Examples of transportation pathways 102 include a vehicle pathway (e.g.,pathway 102A, 102D), a bicycle pathway (e.g., pathway 102B), or apedestrian pathway (e.g., pathway 102C), among others. In otherexamples, transportation pathways 102 may be sidewalks, public spaces,or other surfaces not specifically dedicated to certain types ofvehicles or traffic. Vehicle pathways (e.g., 102A, 102D) may be used byvehicles 110A-110C (collectively, vehicles 110) to transport people orgoods. Examples of vehicles 110 include automobiles (e.g., 110B, 110C)such as cars, trucks, passenger vans; buses; motorcycles; recreationalvehicles (RVs); or lorries (e.g., 110A), etc. Examples of vehiclepathways can also include alleys, streets, and highways (or a vehiclespecific portion thereof, such as a vehicle driving lane), among others.Bicycle pathways (e.g., 102B) may be used by bicycles or vehicles andbicycles. Examples of bicycle pathways include a street or a portion ofa street designated for bicycles, a bicycle trail, among others. In someinstances, a pedestrian pathway (e.g., 102C) is primarily used bypedestrians 112. Examples of pedestrian pathways include a pedestriansidewalk or a jogging path. In some examples, one of transportationpathways 102 may include two or more different types of pathways. Forinstance, transportation pathway 102A may include a vehicle driving laneof a vehicle pathway and a bicycle pathway adjacent to the driving lane.Transportation pathways 102 may include portions not limited to therespective pathways themselves. In the example of transportation pathway102A (e.g., a vehicle pathway), transportation pathway 102A may includethe road shoulder, physical structures near the pathway such as tollbooths, railroad crossing equipment, traffic lights, guardrails, andgenerally encompassing any other properties or characteristics of thepathway or objects/structures in proximity to the pathway.

Examples of infrastructure articles 104 include a pavement marking(e.g., infrastructure article 104A), a roadway sign (e.g.,infrastructure article 104B), a license plate (e.g., infrastructurearticle 104C), a conspicuity tape (e.g., infrastructure article 104D),and a hazard marker (e.g., infrastructure article 104E, such as aconstruction barrel, a traffic cone, a traffic barricade, a safetybarrier, among others). Pavement markings may include liquid markings,tape, or raised pavement markings to name only a few examples. In someexamples, pavement markings may include sensors, materials, orstructures that permit the detection of the marking and/or communicationof information between the pavement marking and a receiving device.Additional examples of infrastructure articles 104 include trafficlights, guardrails, billboards, electronic traffic signs (also referredto as a variable-message sign), among others. Infrastructure articles104 may include information that may be detected by one or more sensorsdisposed in the transportation system 100.

In some examples, an infrastructure article, such as infrastructurearticle 104B, may include an article message on the physical surface ofinfrastructure article 104B. The article message may include characters,images, and/or any other information that may be printed, formed, orotherwise embodied on infrastructure article 104B. For example, eachinfrastructure article 104B may have a physical surface having thearticle message embodied thereon. The article message may includehuman-perceptible information and machine-perceptible information.

Human-perceptible information may include information that indicates oneor more first characteristics of a pathway, such as informationtypically intended to be interpreted by human drivers. In other words,the human-perceptible information may provide a human-perceptiblerepresentation that is descriptive of at least a portion oftransportation pathway 102. As described herein, human-perceptibleinformation may generally refer to information that indicates a generalcharacteristic of a transportation pathway and that is intended to beinterpreted by a human driver. For example, the human-perceptibleinformation may include words (e.g., “STOP” or the like), symbols,graphics (e.g., an arrow indicating the road ahead includes a sharpturn) or shapes (e.g., signs or lane markings). Human-perceptibleinformation may include the color of the article, the article message orother features of the infrastructure article, such as the border orbackground color. For example, some background colors may indicateinformation only, such as “scenic overlook” while other colors mayindicate a potential hazard (e.g., the red octagon of a stop sign, orthe double yellow line of a no passing zone).

In some instances, the human-perceptible information may correspond towords or graphics included in a specification. For example, in theUnited States (U.S.), the human-perceptible information may correspondto words or symbols included in the Manual on Uniform Traffic ControlDevices (MUTCD), which is published by the U.S. Department ofTransportation (DOT) and includes specifications for many conventionalsigns for roadways. Other countries have similar specifications fortraffic control symbols and devices.

Machine-perceptible information may generally refer to informationconfigured to be interpreted by a monitoring system (as described inmore detail with reference to FIG. 6) such as those installed onmicro-mobility device 106 and/or vehicles 110. For example, the articlemessage may be encoded via a 2-dimensional bar code, such as a QR code.In some examples, machine-perceptible information may be interpreted bya human driver. In other words, machine-perceptible information mayinclude a feature of the graphical symbol that is acomputer-interpretable visual property of the graphical symbol. In someexamples, the machine-perceptible information may relate to thehuman-perceptible information, e.g., provide additional context for thehuman-perceptible information. In an example of an arrow indicating asharp turn, the human-perceptible information may be a generalrepresentation of an arrow, while the machine-perceptible informationmay provide an indication of the shape of the turn including the turnradius, any incline of the roadway, a distance from the sign to theturn, or the like. The additional information may be visible to humanoperator(s) of micro-mobility device 106 and/or vehicle 110; however,the additional information may not be readily interpretable by the humanoperators, particularly at speed. In other examples, the additionalinformation may not be visible to a human operator but may still bemachine readable by a monitoring system of micro-mobility device 106and/or vehicle 110. In some examples, infrastructure article 104 may bean optically active article which is readily detectible by visionsystems having an infrared camera or other camera configured fordetecting electromagnetic radiation. The electromagnetic radiation mayhave wavelength encompassing one or more bands of the electromagneticspectrum, which may include the visible band (such as the light in awavelength range from about 400 nm to about 700 nm), the infrared band(such as the light in a wavelength range from about 700 nm to about 2500nm), the ultraviolet band, and so forth. For example, infrastructurearticles 104 may be reflective, such as retroreflective, within one ormore bands of the electromagnetic spectrum that are readily detectibleby visions systems of micro-mobility devices 106 and/or vehicles 110. Inother examples, infrastructure article 104 may be a radar active articlewhich is readily detectible by radar systems. The electromagneticradiation may have wavelength encompassing one or more bands of theelectromagnetic spectrum typical for radar frequency, such as afrequency range from about 75 GHz to about 81 GHz.

The article message may indicate a variety of types of information. Insome examples, the article message may, for instance, providemicro-mobility device 106 with static information related to a region oftransportation pathway 102. Static information may include anyinformation that is related to navigation of transportation pathway 102associated with the article message, and not subject to change. Forexample, certain features of transportation pathways 102 may bestandardized and/or commonly used, such that the article message maycorrespond to a pre-defined classification or operating characteristicof the respective pathway. As some examples, the article message mayindicate a navigational characteristic or feature of the pathway, anoperating rule or set of operating rules of the pathway, or the like.

Infrastructure articles 104 may include a variety of indicators and/ormarkers. For example, infrastructure article 104 may include one or moreof an optical tag, a radio-frequency identification tag, aradio-frequency tag, a radar tag, a magnetic tag, an acoustic surfacepattern, or a material configured to provide a specific signature to anelectromagnetic signal incident on the material. In some examples,infrastructure articles 104 may transmit or receive data to/frommicro-mobility devices 106 or vehicles 110 via near-field communication(NFC) protocols and signals, laser, radar, or infrared-based readers, orother communication type.

Referring to FIG. 1, radar-optical fusion article 108 (or article 108)is attached to a substrate 114. In this example, substrate 114 is aportion of micro-mobility device 106. However, in some instances,article 108 may be attached to other substrates 114. Substrate 114 maybe a physical surface of vehicle 100, infrastructure article 104,micro-mobility device 106, a building, a human, a clothing article (forexample, construction vest), or a wearable article (for example,helmet), or any article that needs to be identified, such as awheelchair, a baby stroller, a mail box, a light post, a machine, or apackage.

Article 108 is configured to retroreflect at least a portion of lightincident on article 108. The light has a wavelength in a range fromabout 400 nm to about 2500 nm. Further, article 108 is configured toretroreflect at least a portion of an electromagnetic wave incident onarticle 108. The electromagnetic wave has a frequency in a range fromabout 0.5 GHz to about 100 GHz. The electromagnetic wave is received andprocessed by a monitoring system 116. As shown in FIG. 1, monitoringsystem 116 is provided in vehicle 110B to monitor the surroundingenvironment of vehicle 110B. Monitoring system 116 includes one or moresensors that perceive characteristics of the environment,infrastructure, and other objects around vehicle 110B. Some examples ofsensors may include image sensor, radar, sonar, LiDAR, among others.These sensors generate sensor data indicative of sensed characteristics.An object may be proximate to a vehicle 110B when the object isdetectable by one or more sensors of monitoring system 116. In someinstances, monitoring system 116 may be provided on other vehicles 110A,110C, micro-mobility devices 106, infrastructure articles 104, or abuilding. Further, one or more monitoring systems 116 may be configuredto communicate with each other and share information about detectedobjects.

Monitoring system 116 is configured to process the retroreflectedelectromagnetic wave to determine a property of substrate 114 with whicharticle 108 is attached. For example, monitoring system 116 may processa retroreflected radar signal to determine the location of substrate114. Further, monitoring system 116 may use the location of substrate114 to gather more information about substrate 114 and/or article 108.In one instance, upon determining the location, monitoring system 116 isconfigured to receive the retroreflected light from article 108. In oneexample, the retroreflected light has a wavelength in a range from about700 nm to about 2500 nm. Monitoring system 116 is configured to processthe retroreflected light to generate an output signal identifyingsubstrate 114. As one example, monitoring system 116 may generate anoptical image from the retroreflected light and only process a region ofthe optical image around the location to identify substrate 114. In someinstances, the output signal may provide at least one of a visibleindication, an audible indication, and a haptic indication to a driverof vehicle 110B. Additionally, or alternatively, the output signal maybe uploaded on an internet server from where it can be transmitted tonearby vehicles 110, micro-mobility devices 106, infrastructure articles104, traffic systems, warning systems, and the like.

In some examples, monitoring system 116 may determine a type of locationin which substrate 114 (such as micro-mobility device 106 in the exampleof FIG. 1) is currently located based on the sensor data. Further, anoperation of vehicle 110B may be controlled based at least in part onthe type of the location. Example types of locations includetransportation pathways 102, parks, interiors of buildings, parkinglots, etc. Monitoring system 116 may determine the type of location inwhich micro-mobility device 106 is located based on image data (e.g.,images and/or videos) generated by one or more image sensors. Monitoringsystem 116 may perform one or more image processing algorithms on theimage data to identify the type of the location. For instance, the imagedata may include an image of one or more infrastructure articles 104proximate to micro-mobility device 106. In an instance, monitoringsystem 116 may determine that the type of location in whichmicro-mobility device 106 is located is a bicycle pathway based on theimage data. Further, monitoring system 116 may perform image processingto identify infrastructure articles 104A as pavement markings (alsoreferred to as lane markings). Monitoring system 116 may determine thatthe type of location in which micro-mobility device 106 is located is abicycle pathway in response to determining that micro-mobility device106 is between two pavement markings. In other words, in one example,monitoring system 116 may determine that transportation pathway 102B isa bicycle pathway, and hence the type of location in whichmicro-mobility device 106 is located is a bicycle pathway. In someinstances, monitoring system 116 determines micro-mobility device 106Ais located within a bicycle pathway based on the characteristics (e.g.,color, width, double vs single line, distance between, etc.) ofinfrastructure articles 104. Additional details of analyzinginfrastructure data are described in U.S. Provisional Patent Application62/622,469, filed Jan. 26, 2018, and U.S. Provisional Patent Application62/480,231, filed Mar. 31, 2017, each of which is hereby incorporated byreference in their entirety.

Monitoring system 116 may determine a distance between infrastructurearticles 104. For instance, monitoring system 116 may calculate a numberof pixels between infrastructure articles 104 and calculate the numberof pixels associated with a known or typical dimension (e.g., width) ofa reference object (e.g., infrastructure article 104A) captured in oneor more images of the image data. In such instances, monitoring system116 may compare the number of pixels between infrastructure articles 104to the number of pixels associated with the reference object todetermine the distance between infrastructure articles 104. As such, inone example, monitoring system 116 may determine that the type oflocation in which micro-mobility device 106A is located is a bicyclepathway in response to determining that the distance betweeninfrastructure articles 104A corresponds to a width of a bicyclepathway.

In some examples, monitoring system 116 determines a type oftransportation pathway 102 based on characteristics of transportationpathway 102. For example, monitoring system 116 may determine a color oftransportation pathway 102B and determine that transportation pathway102B is a bicycle pathway based on the color. In another example,monitoring system 116 may identify a symbol on the surface oftransportation pathway 102B between infrastructure articles 104A anddetermine that transportation pathway 102B is a bicycle pathway based onthe symbol.

In some instances, the image data includes data indicative of thearticle message. Monitoring system 116 may determine the type oflocation in which micro-mobility device 106 is located based on thearticle message. For instance, the article message may indicate a typeof infrastructure article 104B, a type of transportation pathway 102Cassociated with infrastructure article 104B, or both. In one instance,monitoring system 116 may determine the type of location in whichmicro-mobility device 106 is located is a bicycle pathway based on thearticle message.

Monitoring system 116 may determine a type of location in whichmicro-mobility device 106 is currently located based at least in part ondetecting one or more vehicles 110, pedestrians 112, micro-mobilitydevices 106, and/or bicycles. Monitoring system 116 may detect one ormore vehicles 110 based on the image data or other signature data. Forexample, monitoring system 116 may perform image processing on the imagedata to detect one or more vehicles 110 and may determine transportationpathway 102A is a vehicle pathway. As another example, monitoring system116 may perform image processing on the image data and determine thattransportation pathway 102C includes pedestrians 112. In such examples,monitoring system 116 may determine that transportation pathway 102C isa pedestrian pathway. Similarly, monitoring system 116 may determinethat transportation pathway 102B is a bicycle pathway in response todetecting bicycles and/or micro-mobility devices 106. Thus, monitoringsystem 116 may determine on which of transportation pathways 102micro-mobility device 106 is located based on the image data.

In some scenarios, monitoring system 116 may determine a type oflocation in which micro-mobility device 106A is located based oncommunication data received from a monitoring system separate fromvehicle 110B, such as another vehicle 110C, an infrastructure article104, or a micro-mobility device 106. In some examples, monitoring system116 receives the communication data via a dedicated short-rangecommunication (DSRC) transceiver. Additionally, or alternatively,monitoring system 116 may receive communication data via any wirelesscommunication device, such as a BLUETOOTH device, a WIFI device, a GPSdevice, among others. For instance, the communication data may includedata indicating that the type of the location is a transportationpathway 102. In one instance, the communication data indicates GPScoordinates of micro-mobility device 106 (e.g., GPS coordinates) andmonitoring system 116 may determine the type of location based on theGPS coordinates. In another example, the communication data may indicatea type of the sending device and monitoring system 116 may determine thetype of location for micro-mobility device 106A based on the type of thesending device. For example, the communication device may indicate thesending device is a vehicle 110, such as a lorry or semi-truck. In suchexamples, monitoring system 116 may determine that micro-mobility device106A is located on a transportation pathway 102 in response todetermining that the sending device is a vehicle 110. In some instances,the communication data includes data which was received from vehicles110, infrastructure articles 104, or other micro-mobility devices 106that travelled proximate to the current location of micro-mobilitydevice 106A within a particular time duration of micro-mobility device106A arriving at its current location.

In some examples, the communication data may include data indicating atype of a roadway, a size of the roadway (e.g., a number of lanes), aspeed of the vehicle 110, a speed limit for the roadway, among others.In some examples, the data indicating the type of the roadway mayinclude data indicating the presence of an accident, the presence of aconstruction zone, the direction, speed, or congestion of traffic, roadsurface type, types of vehicles permitted or present on the roadway,number of lanes, complexity of traffic, or a combination thereof. Forexample, monitoring system 116 may receive data from vehicles 110indicating a type of transportation pathway 102.

In some examples, monitoring system 116 determines whethermicro-mobility device 106A is permitted in the location in whichmicro-mobility device 106A is currently located. For example, monitoringsystem 116 may determine whether micro-mobility device 106A is permittedin its current location based on the type of the current location andone or more rules. The rules may be pre-programmed or machine generated(e.g., using trained or untrained machine learning models). In somescenarios, monitoring system 116 determines based on the rule(s) thatmicro-mobility device 106A is permitted in certain types of locationsand is not permitted (e.g., may be prohibited) in other types oflocations. For instance, monitoring system 116 may determine thatmicro-mobility device 106A is permitted in its current location whenmicro-mobility device 106A is located on one of transportation pathways102. Similarly, monitoring system 116 may determine that micro-mobilitydevice 106A is not permitted in its current location when micro-mobilitydevice 106A is located within a building or on an athletic field (e.g.,a baseball field, soccer field, etc.).

Micro-mobility device 106A may be permitted in a subset of one type oflocations and may not be permitted in a different subset of the type oflocations. For example, monitoring system 116 may determine based on therules that micro-mobility device 106A is permitted on transportationpathways 102A and 102B and that micro-mobility device 106A is not bepermitted on transportation pathway 102C. In another example, monitoringsystem 116 may determine that micro-mobility device 106A is notpermitted in a construction zone 118 (or any other temporary trafficcontrol zone).

Alternatively or additionally to determining whether micro-mobilitydevice 106A is permitted in its current location based on the type ofthe current location, in some scenarios, monitoring system 116determines whether micro-mobility device 106A is permitted in itscurrent location based at least in part on the presence of a vehicle110, micro-mobility devices 106, pedestrian 112, or a combinationthereof. For example, monitoring system 116 may determine thatmicro-mobility device 106A is not permitted in its current location inresponse to detecting one or more of vehicles 110, micro-mobilitydevices 106, or pedestrians 112.

Monitoring system 116 may perform an operation based at least in part onthe type of location in which micro-mobility device 106A is located,whether micro-mobility device 106A is permitted in its current location,a type of a roadway, presence of vehicles 110, pedestrians 112, and/orother micro-mobility devices 106, or a combination thereof.

In some examples, monitoring system 116 performs an operation to adjustoperation of the vehicle 110B. For example, monitoring system 116 mayperform an operation based on the type of location and/or in response todetermining that micro-mobility device 106A in not permitted in thelocation in which it is currently located. For example, monitoringsystem 116 may cause the vehicle 110B to adjust (e.g., increase ordecrease) the speed. In one scenario, monitoring system 116 adjusts amaximum allowable speed based on the type of location. For example,monitoring system 116 may enable the vehicle 110B to drive at a firstspeed when micro-mobility device 106A is located on a pedestrian pathway(e.g., pathway 102C) and may enable the vehicle 110B to drive at adifferent (e.g., lower) speed when micro-mobility device 106A is locatedon a vehicle pathway (e.g., pathway 102A). In another example,monitoring system 116 may perform an operation to adjust braking ofvehicle 110B based on the type of location.

Monitoring system 116 may perform the at least one operation based atleast in part on whether monitoring system 116 detected the presence ofvehicles 110, pedestrians 112, and/or other micro-mobility devices 106.For example, monitoring system 116 adjusts a speed of vehicle 110B inresponse to detecting pedestrian 112, for example, regardless of thetype of location in which micro-mobility device 106A is located.

Monitoring system 116 may perform the at least one operation bygenerating the output signal. For example, the output signal may includean audio output, a visual output, a haptic output, or a combinationthereof. As one example, monitoring system 116 may output a visual alertvia one or more LED lights, an audible signal, or a haptic alert (e.g.,causing a steering mechanism of vehicle 110B to vibrate) indicating thatmicro-mobility device 106A is not permitted in its current location.

In some examples, monitoring system 116 outputs a message to a remotedevice separate from vehicle 110B. The message may indicate thatmicro-mobility device 106A is currently located in a location in whichit is not permitted. The message may indicate an amount of time thatmicro-mobility device 106A has been in its current location, the currentlocation of micro-mobility device 106A, among other information.

In some instances, monitoring system 116 determines an amount of timethat micro-mobility device 106A has been in a location in whichmicro-mobility device 106A is not permitted. Monitoring system 116 mayperform the at least one operation in response to determining that theamount of time satisfies (e.g., is greater than or equal to) a thresholdtime duration. For example, monitoring system 116 may generate an outputand/or adjust a speed of the vehicle 110B in response to determiningthat micro-mobility device 106A has been located in an impermissiblelocation for at least the threshold time duration. Monitoring system 116may determine a confidence level indicating a probability thatmicro-mobility device 106A has been in a location in whichmicro-mobility device 106A is not permitted. Monitoring system 116 mayperform the at least one operation in response to determining that theconfidence level satisfies (e.g., is greater than or equal to) athreshold confidence level. For example, monitoring system 116 maygenerate an output and/or adjust a speed of the vehicle 110B in responseto determining that confidence level satisfies the threshold confidencelevel.

While monitoring system 116 is described as dynamically controllingvehicle 110B, techniques of this disclosure may enable a monitoringsystem to control any other type of vehicle 110, micro-mobility device106, or an infrastructure article 104.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of micro-mobility device 106A.Micro-mobility device 106A include a chassis 202, a rear wheel 204, afront wheel 206, and a steering assembly 208. Chassis 202 includeschassis support member 210 extending substantially horizontally betweena rear-wheel mount 212 at one end of chassis 202 and a front-wheel mount214 at another end of chassis 202 that is opposite the rear-wheel mount212.

In the example of FIG. 2, rear wheel 204 is mounted to rear wheel mount212 and front wheel 206 is mounted to front wheel mount 214. Front wheel206 is mounted to front wheel mount 214 for turning steering movementwith respect to the front wheel mount 206 and rear wheel 204. Frontwheel mount 214 may be coupled to steering assembly 208. Steeringassembly 408 may extend generally vertically relative to chassis supportmember 210. Steering assembly 408 may be angled relative to chassissupport member 210. In one example, an angle between chassis supportmember 210 and steering assembly 208 is between approximately 60 degreesto approximately 90 degrees. Steering assembly 208 may includehandlebars 216. Steering assembly 208 may be coupled to front wheelmount 214 such that turning handlebars 216 may cause front wheel 206 toturn.

Micro-mobility device 106A includes at least one electric motor 218, atleast one motor controller 220, and at least one battery 222. Motorcontroller 220 may be operatively coupled to electric motor 218 to driverear wheel 204 and/or front wheel 206. In the example of FIG. 2,electric motor 218 is configured to drive rear wheel 204, in someexamples, electric motor 218 may be configured to drive front wheel 206.In one example, micro-mobility device 106A includes a plurality ofmotors that are each configured to drive a respective wheel.

Micro-mobility device 106A may include a braking apparatus. The brakingapparatus is operatively coupled to rear wheel 204 to selectively slowand/or stop rear wheel 204. In some examples, micro-mobility device 106Aincludes a braking apparatus coupled to front wheel 206.

Micro-mobility device 106A includes radar-optical fusion article 108(also referred to as, article 108). Article 108 is configured to providea signature to incoming light and/or the electromagnetic wave to enablebetter detection of micro-mobility device 106A. Article 108 providesmore conspicuity to micro-mobility device 106A. The information receivedfrom article 108 may be used by vehicles 110, infrastructure articles104, other micro-mobility devices 106, or pedestrians 112 to be moreaware of their surroundings and avoid collisions. In other examples,article 108 may provide more conspicuity to substrate 114 with whicharticle 108 is attached.

FIG. 3A is a schematic illustrating cross section of a radar-opticalfusion article 108 (also referred to as, article 108) attached tosubstrate 114, in accordance with techniques of this disclosure. Article108 includes a first retroreflective layer 302 configured toretroreflect at least a portion of light incident on firstretroreflective layer 302. The light has a wavelength in a range fromabout 400 nm to about 2500 nm. In one example, first retroreflectivelayer 302 is configured to retroreflect at least a portion of light to afirst transceiver (described in more detail with reference to FIG. 6).First retroreflective layer 302 may be a retroreflective sheeting, forexample, 3M™ Diamond Grade™ DG³ Reflective Sheeting Series 4000, 3M™High Definition License Plate Sheeting Series 6700, and 3M™ Scotchlite™Reflective Material 8987. In some instances, first retroreflective layer302 may be a cube corner retroreflective sheeting including a bodyportion typically having a substantially planar front surface and astructured rear surface having a plurality of cube corner elements. Eachcube corner element includes three approximately mutually perpendicularoptical faces to retroreflect incident light. In some instances, firstretroreflective layer 302 may be a microsphere-containingretroreflective sheeting.

In some instances, the retroreflected light includes a light signatureassociated with substrate 114. In some instances, the retroreflectedlight from first retroreflective layer 302 has a wavelength in a rangefrom about 700 nm to about 2500 nm. The light signature may be based onat least one of a spatial pattern, a wavelength-selective signature, anangle-dependent signature and a polarization-specific signature. Thespatial pattern may be a message encoded via a 2-dimensional bar code,such as a QR code. The light signature may be detected by an imagesensor or an image capture device (e.g. a camera). The light signaturemay be processed further to identify substrate 114. The light signaturemay be indicative of at least one of a location of substrate 114, a typeof substrate 114, and an environment of substrate 114.

In one example, an optical code 304 (e.g. a wavelength-selective spatialsignature) is formed by permanent or temporary attachment of one or morevisibly transparent, near-infrared (IR) reflecting multilayer opticalfilms to first retroreflective layer 302. Such attachment may occur by,for example, use of an adhesive 306A and/or 306B. Adhesives 306A and306B are substantially transparent in the selected wavelength range thatthe multilayer optical film reflects. In some examples, adhesives 306Aand 306B may be optically clear adhesive (OCA). The use of suchwavelength-selective multilayer optical films on first retroreflectivelayer 302 causes near-infrared light incident on article 108 to bereflected from the otherwise retroreflective light path and thus createsregions of high contrast on article 108 when viewed with near-infraredlight. The multilayer optical films are effectively IR-reflectingmirrors with high transmission through the visible spectrum of light. Asthe multilayer optical films are not significantly visible in thevisible light spectrum, the wavelength-selective signature (e.g.,graphics, indicia, pattern, image) created using the multilayer opticalfilms is not visible to the human eye in the visible light spectrum. Assuch, the multilayer optical films can be used to create covert orhidden wavelength-selective signatures on article 108 that can act assubstrate identifiers in automated vision or automated recognitionsystems. Examples of code-containing retroreflective sheeting, which maybe used with techniques and systems of this disclosure, include amultilayer optical film as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 8,865,293, issuedOct. 21, 2014; U.S. Provisional Patent Application 62/702,642, filedJul. 24, 2018; U.S. Provisional Patent Application 62/702,672, filedJul. 24, 2018, each of which is hereby incorporated by reference intheir entirety. In some instances, first retroreflective layer 302 mayinclude retroreflective sheeting configured to provide a light signatureincluding a polarization-specific signature. For example, theretroreflective sheeting may be configured to linearly polarize (e.g.,horizontally or vertically) or circularly polarize the incident light,such as those disclosed in PCT Publications WO2018151761A1,WO2019082130A1, and WO2019082162A1, each of which is hereby incorporatedby reference in their entirety. In some examples, the light signaturemay be an angle-dependent signature associated with light incident atcertain angles, such as those disclosed in PCT PublicationWO2019084297A2, U.S. Provisional Patent Application 62/838,569, filedApr. 25, 2019 and U.S. Provisional Patent Application 62/838,580, filedApr. 25, 2019, each of which is hereby incorporated by reference intheir entirety.

Referring to FIG. 3A, article 108 includes a second retroreflectivelayer 308 disposed adjacent to first retroreflective layer 302. Secondretroreflective layer 308 is configured to retroreflect at least aportion of an electromagnetic wave having a frequency in the range fromabout 0.5 GHz to about 100 GHz. In one example, second retroreflectivelayer 308 is configured to retroreflect at least a portion of theelectromagnetic wave to a second transceiver (described in more detailwith reference to FIG. 6). In some instances, the retroreflectedelectromagnetic wave includes an electromagnetic signature associatedwith substrate 114. In some instances, the electromagnetic wave is aradar wave and the retroreflected radar wave includes a radar signatureassociated with substrate 114. In an example, the retroreflectedelectromagnetic wave from second retroreflective layer 308 has afrequency in a range from about 75 GHz to about 81 GHz. The radarsignature may be at least one of a frequency signature, a polarizationsignature, a temporal signature and an angle-dependent signature. Forexample, the retroreflected electromagnetic wave may have a frequency ofabout 76 GHz indicating a location of substrate 114 to which article 108is attached.

In one example, second retroreflective layer 308 includes aretroreflective antenna array disposed between adhesives 310A and 310B.A simple type of retroreflective radar antenna is the Van Atta array. Itwas first introduced by L. C. Van Atta, U.S. Pat. No. 2,908,002,“Electromagnetic Reflector”, Oct. 6, 1959. Van Atta array is made up ofan array of passive antenna elements that are connected in pairs bytransmission lines, with the members of each pair located symmetricallywith respect to the array center. The incident electromagnetic fieldreceived by each antenna element feeds its corresponding antenna elementvia a transmission line, resulting in a reradiated electromagneticfield. The transmission lines are configured so that the phasedistribution of the reradiated fields is the reverse of the receivedfields, which results in the reradiated wave propagating back towardsthe incident direction.

In another example, second retroreflective layer 308 includes adiffraction grating array disposed between adhesives 310A and 310B. Whenilluminated by a radar signal, a metallic sign, whose dimensions aremuch greater than the radar wavelength, will scatter the radar signal invirtually all directions. A major portion of the signal will bescattered in the specular direction. Smaller levels will be scattered inother directions due to diffraction when the excited currents on thesign reach the edges. Increasing the scatter in the direction of theincident signal typically requires modification of the sign. One way todo this is to introduce elements on the sign that form a diffraction (orblaze) grating. The figure below schematically shows such a structure.

In this case the grating consists of rectangular grooves in either aconducting or dielectric sheet. This may produce a periodic structure ofelements that are capable of scattering electromagnetic energy. Forbackscatter, i.e., θn=θi. the element spacing should satisfy

${\sin\left( \theta_{i} \right)} = \frac{\lambda}{2d}$

where λ is the wavelength of the incident electromagnetic field. For aroadside sign or similar application, there are a number of ways ofimplementing this. One employs short circuited dipoles (typically a halfwavelength long) that are placed in a rectangular grid. With a sign,these dipoles may be spaced away and parallel to the sign. The spacercan be a dielectric sheet. The figure below shows an example:

This is a top view. The thin, regularly spaced “lines” are the dipoles.The shaded area represents the dielectric spacer. Below the spacer (notshown) may a metal ground plane. For this structure, the incident waveis assumed to come from the left along the x-axis. The dipole spacingalong the x dimension is given by the above equation and depends uponthe assumed incidence angle. In this situation, the dipole spacing alongthe y dimension is somewhat arbitrary (a wavelength in this case). Otherelements can be used such as slots in the ground plane, periodic “holes”in the dielectric, etc.

The retroreflective antenna array and/or the diffraction grating arraymay be manufactured using traditional plating and etching process, usinga printing process with a metallic ink or an ink containing a metalprecursor, or using patterned adhesion process as those disclosed inU.S. Provisional Patent Application 62/702,642, filed Jul. 24, 2018 andU.S. Provisional Patent Application 62/702,672, filed Jul. 24, 2018,each of which is hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety. Inone instance, the retroreflective antenna array may include atransferable thin metal (as described in more detail with reference toFIGS. 3B and 3C).

Referring to FIG. 3A, article 108 may have a filter layer 314 disposedbetween first retroreflective layer 302 and second retroreflective layer308. Filter layer 314 may include a plurality of elements (as describedin more detail with reference to FIGS. 4 and 5) configured to provide afiltered signal including an electromagnetic signature associated withsubstrate 114. The electromagnetic signature may be at least one of afrequency signature, a polarization signature, a temporal signature, andan angle-dependent signature.

FIG. 3B is a schematic illustrating a cross section of an exemplarysecond retroreflective layer 308, in accordance with techniques of thisdisclosure. Article 108 includes an adhesive 316 with a first surfaceadjacent to second retroreflective layer 308. In some instances,adhesive 316 in FIG. 3B is same as adhesive 310B in FIG. 3A. Adhesive316 includes a transferable thin metal 318A secured to the first surfaceof adhesive 316 at a first region and a barrier 320 on a second regionof the first surface of adhesive 316. The pattern made from the firstregion includes transferable thin metal 318A functioning as secondretroreflective layer 308. In some instances, transferable thin metal318A includes a selective-bonding layer to facilitate the transfer ofthe thin metal layer to the first region of the first surface ofadhesive 316. Transferable thin metal 318A may have a thickness in arange from about 10 nm to about 500 nm. Exemplary pre-made filmcontaining the transferable thin metal includes a selective-bondinglayer is described in Working Example 2.4.1 Part A of PCT PublicationWO2019084295A1, which is hereby incorporated by reference in itsentirety. The selective-bonding layer is further described in PCTPublications WO2018178802A1 and WO2018178803A1, which are each herebyincorporated by reference in its entirety. Exemplary patterned adhesionprocess to produce second retroreflective layer 308 as illustrated inFIG. 3B is described in U.S. Provisional Patent Application 62/702,642,filed Jul. 24, 2018, which is hereby incorporated by reference in theirentirety.

FIG. 3C is a schematic illustrating a cross section of another exemplarysecond retroreflective layer 308, in accordance with techniques of thisdisclosure. In this example, an adhesive 322 has a first surfaceadjacent to first retroreflective layer 302 in a first region. Atransferable thin metal 318B similar to those described for transferablethin metal 318A is secured to a second surface of adhesive 322. Thepattern made from the first region includes transferable thin metal 318Bfunctioning as second retroreflective layer 308. Exemplary patternedadhesion process to produce second retroreflective layer 308 asillustrated in FIG. 3C is described in U.S. Provisional PatentApplication 62/702,672, filed Jul. 24, 2018, which is herebyincorporated by reference in their entirety. In some instance, theselective-bonding layer (not shown) may be aligned on an oppositesurface of transferable thin metal 318B after the transfer process.

FIG. 4 is a schematic illustrating filter layer 314, in accordance withtechniques of this disclosure. Filter layer 314 may be a frequencyselective surface configured to selectively allow electromagneticsignals of certain frequencies to pass therethrough. Frequency selectivesurface may be constructed as a plane surface having a series ofidentical elements arranged in a one-dimensional or two-dimensionalarray. In one instance, frequency selective surface may be designedusing an array of apertures on a thin metallic sheet. This frequencyselective surface acts as a bandpass filter as it allows only certainfrequencies within a band to pass through the apertures. In the exampleof FIG. 4, filter layer 314 includes a metallic sheet 402 havingapertures 404. Apertures 404 allow electromagnetic signals that havefrequencies within a frequency band (for example, 75 GHz to 81 GHz) topass therethrough. Thus, filter layer 314 acts as a bandpass filter inthis example.

FIGS. 5A to 5F illustrate various examples of filter layer 314, inaccordance with techniques of this disclosure. In these examples, filterlayer 314 includes a frequency selective surface implemented usingmetallic patches 502 (also referred to as elements 502) on a dielectric504. This frequency selective surface acts as a bandstop filter as itreflects certain frequencies within a frequency band. For example,filter layer 314 may act as a bandstop filter configured to reflect theelectromagnetic signals having frequencies falling in a frequency band(for example, 75 GHz to 81 GHz) and to pass the electromagnetic signalshaving frequencies outside the frequency band therethrough.

FIG. 5A illustrates filter layer 314 implemented using elements 502 inthe shape of a dipole on dielectric 504. FIG. 5B illustrates filterlayer 314 implemented using elements 502 in the shape of a crosseddipole on dielectric 504. FIG. 5C illustrates filter layer 314implemented using elements 502 in the shape of a Jerusalem cross ondielectric 504. FIG. 5D illustrates filter layer 314 implemented usingelements 502 in the shape of a tripole on dielectric 504. FIG. 5Eillustrates filter layer 314 implemented using elements 502 in the shapeof a circle on dielectric 504. FIG. 5F illustrates filter layer 314implemented using elements 502 in the shape of a rectangle on dielectric504.

FIG. 6 illustrates monitoring system 116 (also referred to as, system116) in accordance with techniques of this disclosure. System 116 may bemounted on infrastructure article 104 or vehicle 110 (for example,vehicle 110B as shown in FIG. 1). System 116 may be provided withsensors such as image sensors, temperature sensors, LiDAR, RADAR, or acombination thereof, to name only a few examples of sensors. Examples ofimage sensors may include semiconductor charge-coupled devices (CCD) oractive pixel sensors in complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS)or N-type metal-oxide-semiconductor (NMOS, Live MOS) technologies. Inone example, system 116 or vehicle 110B includes at least two differentsensors for detecting electromagnetic radiation in two differentwavelength spectra. Image sensors may have a fixed field of view or mayhave an adjustable field of view. An image sensor with an adjustablefield of view may be configured to pan left and right, up and downrelative to vehicle 110B as well as be able to widen or narrow focus. Insome examples, image sensors may include a first lens and a second lens.System 116 and/or vehicle 110B may have more or fewer sensors in variousexamples.

System 116 includes a first transceiver 602 configured to emit andreceive at least portion of light having a wavelength in a range fromabout 400 nm to about 2500 nm. The light is retroreflected from firstretroreflective layer 302 of radar-optical fusion article 108 configuredfor attachment to substrate 114. As an example, first transceiver 602may be an image capture device which generates an optical image. In someinstances, first transceiver 602 may not be configured to emit light.For example, headlight emitted by a headlamp of vehicle 110B may beretroreflected by first retroreflective layer 302 which is then receivedby first transceiver 602.

System 116 further includes a second transceiver 604 configured to emitand receive at least a portion of an electromagnetic wave having afrequency in a range from about 0.5 GHz to about 100 GHz. Theelectromagnetic wave is retroreflected from second retroreflective layer308 of radar-optical fusion article 108. In some instances, secondtransceiver 604 may not be configured to emit electromagnetic wave. Forexample, an electromagnetic wave emitted by a sensor of vehicle 110B maybe retroreflected by second retroreflective layer 308 which is thenreceived by second transceiver 604.

System 116 includes a controller 606 communicatively coupled to firsttransceiver 602 and second transceiver 604. Controller 606 is configuredto process the retroreflected electromagnetic wave received by secondtransceiver 604 to determine a location of substrate 114. In an example,controller 606 may be configured to process the retroreflectedelectromagnetic wave to determine a property of substrate 114 with whicharticle 108 is attached. In some instances, controller 606 may processthe electromagnetic signature of the retroreflected electromagnetic waveto generate a low-resolution spatial image indicating a location ofsubstrate 114. Based on the location of substrate 114, controller 606 isconfigured to control first transceiver 602 to receive theretroreflected light from first retroreflective layer 302. For example,controller 606 may be configured to steer first transceiver 602 towardsa direction of substrate 114. In some instances, controller 606 maycontrol first transceiver 602 after a time lag (for example, 10 seconds)upon determining the location of substrate 114. Alternatively,controller 606 may immediately control first transceiver 602 upondetermining the location of substrate 114.

Controller 606 is configured to process the retroreflected lightreceived by first transceiver 602 to generate an output signalidentifying substrate 114. In one example, controller 606 may receive anoptical image from first transceiver 602 and process only a region ofthe optical image corresponding to the location of substrate 114. Forexample, image processing algorithms may be used by controller 606 toanalyze only those regions of the optical image that have a subject suchas a human.

In some instances, controller 606 may determine the presence of a lightsignature in the retroreflected light. Light signature may be based onat least one of a spatial pattern, a wavelength-selective signature, anangle-dependent signature and a polarization-specific signature. Lightsignature may be used to identify substrate 114 with more accuracy. Forexample, controller 606 may determine a particular light signature andaccordingly identifies the substrate as a micro-mobility device. In someinstances, controller 606 may have a lookup table containing acorrespondence between various types of light signatures and/orelectromagnetic signatures and types of substrate 114. For example, afirst light signature including a particular optical code may correspondto micro-mobility devices 106 and a second light signature including aparticular wavelength-selective signature may correspond to vehicles110. The lookup table may be stored in monitoring system 116 or may bedownloaded in monitoring system 116 from an internet server.

The output signal may provide at least one of a visible indication, anaudible indication and a haptic indication. For example, controller 606may generate a vibration on the steering wheel of vehicle 110B to alertthe driver about the location of substrate 114. Controller 606 may beconfigured to provide the output signal to vehicle 110B, other vehicles110A, 110C, or upload the output signal on an internet server. Theoutput signal may be forwarded to traffic monitoring systems, warningsystems, automatic driving assistance systems, and the like.

System 116 may have communication units 608A, 608B to communicate withexternal devices by transmitting and/or receiving data. For example,system 116 may use communication units 608A, 608B to transmit and/orreceive radio signals on a radio network, such as a cellular radionetwork or other networks. In some examples, communication units 608A,608B may transmit and receive messages and information to othervehicles, such as information interpreted from infrastructure article104. In some examples, communication units 608A, 608B may transmitand/or receive satellite signals on a satellite network, such as aGlobal Positioning System (GPS) network. In some examples,communications units 608A, 608B may transmit and/or receive data throughnetwork to a remote computing system. In some examples, micro-mobilitydevice 106A and system 116 are communicatively coupled to one anothervia a network. In another example, micro-mobility device 106A and system116 are communicatively coupled to one another directly, for example,via a DSRC transceiver.

Controller 606 may include one or more processors, storage devices,communication units, input components, and output components.Processors, input components, storage devices, communication units, andoutput components may each be interconnected by one or morecommunication channels. Communication channels may interconnect each ofthese components and other components for inter-component communications(physically, communicatively, and/or operatively). In some examples,communication channels may include a hardware bus, a network connection,one or more inter-process communication data structures, or any othercomponents for communicating data between hardware and/or software.

One or more processors of controller 606 may implement functionalityand/or execute instructions. For example, processors on controller 606may receive and execute instructions stored by storage devices. Theseinstructions executed by processors may cause controller 606 to storeand/or modify information, within storage devices during programexecution.

FIG. 7 illustrates a computing device 700, in accordance with techniquesof this disclosure. Computing device 700 includes an interpretationcomponent 702 and a control component 704. Components 702, 704 includesone or more computer processors, and a memory to store instructions tobe executed by the computer processors. Components 702, 704 may performoperations described herein using software, hardware, firmware, or amixture of both hardware, software, and firmware residing in andexecuting on computing device 700 and/or at one or more other remotecomputing devices. In some examples, components 702, 704 may beimplemented as hardware, software, and/or a combination of hardware andsoftware.

Computing device 700 may execute components 702, 704 with one or moreprocessors. Computing device 700 may execute any of components 702, 704as or within a virtual machine executing on underlying hardware.Components 702, 704 may be implemented in various ways. For example, anyof components 702, 704 may be implemented as a downloadable orpre-installed application or “app.” In another example, any ofcomponents 702, 704 may be implemented as part of an operating system ofcomputing device 700.

According to techniques of this disclosure, interpretation component 702may determine a location of substrate 114 to which radar-optical fusionarticle 108 is attached. Interpretation components 702 may receive, fromsensors data indicative of article 108 proximate to vehicle 110B.Interpretation component 702 may identify substrate 114 and/or article108 using one or more image processing algorithms.

Interpretation component 702 processes at least a portion of lighthaving a wavelength in a range from about 400 nm to about 2500 nm. Thelight is retroreflected from first retroreflective layer 302 ofradar-optical fusion article 108 attached to a substrate 114. Further,interpretation component 702 processes at least a portion of anelectromagnetic wave having a frequency in the range from about 0.5 GHzto about 100 GHz, wherein the electromagnetic wave is retroreflectedfrom second retroreflective layer 308 disposed adjacent to firstretroreflective layer 302. Interpretation component 702 determines alocation of substrate 114 based on the processing of the retroreflectedelectromagnetic wave. Control component 704 controls first transceiver602 to receive the retroreflected light from first retroreflective layer302 based on the location of substrate 114. The retroreflectedelectromagnetic wave from second retroreflective layer 308 is receivedby second transceiver 604.

In some instances, control component 704 steers first transceiver 602 byphysically moving first transceiver 602 towards the direction ofsubstrate 114. Control component 704 may steer first transceiver 602after a time lag upon determining the location of substrate 114.

In an example, control component 704 may control first transceiver 602to generate an optical image and to analyze a region of the opticalimage corresponding to the location of substrate 114. Image processingalgorithms may be employed to process only those regions of the opticalimage that have a subject, for example, a human.

Control component 704 may be configured to perform an operation byadjusting operation of vehicle 110B. Control component 704 may include,for example, any circuitry or other hardware, or software that mayadjust one or more functions of the vehicle. Some examples includeadjustments to change a speed of vehicle 110B, shut off an electricmotor that drives one or more wheels, or both.

FIG. 8 is a flow diagram 800 illustrating example operation of amonitoring system for identifying a substrate, in accordance with one ormore techniques of this disclosure. The techniques are described interms of monitoring system 116. However, the techniques may be performedby other monitoring systems.

In the example of FIG. 8, monitoring system 116 receives, by firsttransceiver 602, retroreflected light from first retroreflective layer302 of radar-optical fusion article 108 attached to substrate 114 (802).The incident light has a wavelength in a range from about 400 nm toabout 2500 nm. The first transceiver 602 may be an image capture deviceor an image sensor, for example, a near-infrared camera.

In some examples, monitoring system 116 receives, by second transceiver604, retroreflected electromagnetic wave from second retroreflectivelayer 308 disposed adjacent to the first retroreflective layer 302(804). The electromagnetic wave has a frequency in a range from about0.5 GHz to about 100 GHz.

In some examples, monitoring system 116 processes the retroreflectedelectromagnetic wave to determine a location of substrate 114 (806). Theretroreflected electromagnetic wave includes an electromagneticsignature associate with substrate 114. The electromagnetic signaturemay be at least one of a frequency signature, a polarization signature,a temporal signature, and an angle-dependent signature.

In some examples, monitoring system 116 controls first transceiver 602to receive the retroreflected light from first retroreflective layer 302based on the location of substrate 114 (808). For example, monitoringsystem 116 may steer first transceiver 602 towards a direction ofsubstrate 114. Subsequently, first transceiver 602 may generate anoptical image.

In some examples, monitoring system 116 processes the retroreflectedlight to generate an output signal identifying substrate 114 (810). Inone example, monitoring system 116 processes a region of the opticalimage corresponding to the location of substrate 114. The output signalprovides information related to identification of substrate 114. Theoutput signal may provide at least one of a visible indication, anaudible indication, and a haptic indication. Monitoring system 116 mayprovide the output signal to a vehicle or upload the output signal on aninternet server.

FIG. 9 is a block diagram illustrating an example system for improvingsafety associated with an electrically powered scooter, in accordancewith techniques of this disclosure. In the examples of FIG. 9, system150 includes electrically powered scooter 110A, vehicle 104B, and aremote computing system 150. In some examples, the devices shown in FIG.9 are communicatively coupled to one another via network 114. In someexamples, the devices shown in FIG. 9 are communicatively coupled to oneanother directly, for example, via a DSRC transceiver. The one or moredevices of FIG. 9 may implement techniques, articles, and systems ofthis disclosure.

Electrically powered scooter 110A includes computing device 116A andvehicle 104B include computing device 116B. Computing devices 116A, 116B(collectively, computing devices 116) may each include one or morecommunication unit 214A, 214B, and sensors 117A, 117B, respectively.Although computing device 116A is shown as attached to electricallypowered 110A, in other examples, functionality of computing device 116Amay be included in a computing device (e.g., smartphone, smartwatch,wearable, or other portable computing device) that is associated withthe operator of electrically powered scooter 100. In such examples,computing device 116A and the computing device that is associated withthe operator of electrically powered scooter 100 may communicate withone another and/or one or more other computing devices.

Communication units 214A, 214B (collectively, communication units 214)of computing devices 116 may communicate with external devices bytransmitting and/or receiving data. For example, computing device 116may use communication units 214 to transmit and/or receive radio signalson a radio network such as a cellular radio network or other networks,such as networks 114. In some examples communication units 214 maytransmit and receive messages and information to other vehicles, such asinformation interpreted from infrastructure article 107. In someexamples, communication units 214 may transmit and/or receive satellitesignals on a satellite network such as a Global Positioning System (GPS)network. In some examples, communications units 214 may transmit and/orreceive data through network 114 to remote computing system 150 viacommunication unit 154.

Sensors 117A, 117B (collectively, sensors 117) may image sensors 102A,102B (collectively, image sensors 102), temperature sensors, LiDAR, or acombination thereof, to name only a few examples of sensors. Examples ofimage sensors 102 may include semiconductor charge-coupled devices (CCD)or active pixel sensors in complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor(CMOS) or N-type metal-oxide-semiconductor (NMOS, Live MOS)technologies. Digital sensors include flat panel detectors. In oneexample, electrically powered scooter 110A or vehicle 104B includes atleast two different sensors for detecting light in two differentwavelength spectrums. Image sensors 102 may have a fixed field of viewor may have an adjustable field of view. An image sensor 102 with anadjustable field of view may be configured to pan left and right, up anddown relative to electrically powered scooter 110 or vehicle 104B aswell as be able to widen or narrow focus. In some examples, imagesensors 102 may include a first lens and a second lens. Electricallypowered scooter 110 and/or vehicle 104B may have more or fewer imagesensors 102 in various examples.

In the example of FIG. 9, computing device 116A includes aninterpretation component 118, a user interface (UI) component 124, and acontrol component 144. Components 118A, 124, and 144 may performoperations described herein using software, hardware, firmware, or amixture of both hardware, software, and firmware residing in andexecuting on computing device 116 and/or at one or more other remotecomputing devices. In some examples, components 118A, 124, and 144 maybe implemented as hardware, software, and/or a combination of hardwareand software.

Computing device 116A may execute components 118A, 124, and 144 with oneor more processors. Computing device 116A may execute any of components118A, 124, 144 as or within a virtual machine executing on underlyinghardware. Components 118A, 124, 144 may be implemented in various ways.For example, any of components 118A, 124, 144 may be implemented as adownloadable or pre-installed application or “app.” In another example,any of components 118A, 124, 144 may be implemented as part of anoperating system of computing device 116.

UI component 124 may include any hardware or software for communicatingwith a user of electrically powered scooter 110. In some examples, UIcomponent 124 includes outputs to a user such as displays, such as adisplay screen, indicator or other lights, audio devices to generatenotifications or other audible functions, and/or haptic feedbackdevices. UI component 124 may also include inputs such as knobs,switches, keyboards, touch screens or similar types of input devices.

In general, sensors 117 may be used to gather information aboutinfrastructure and roadway conditions proximate to electrically poweredscooter 110A and vehicle 104B, such as information about transportationpathways 106. Sensors 117 may generate infrastructure data indicative ofthe infrastructure proximate to electrically powered scooter 110A orvehicle 104B. Sensors 117 may generate roadway condition data indicativeof roadway conditions proximate to electrically powered scooter 110A orvehicle 104B. For example, image sensors 102 may capture images ofinfrastructure articles, such as lane markings, centerline markings,edge of roadway or shoulder markings, as well as the general shape ofthe transportation pathway. The general shape of a transportationpathway may include turns, curves, incline, decline, widening, narrowingor other characteristics.

Computing device 116A may include a user component 118A configured toperform techniques of this disclosure. For example, user component 118Amay receive, via a remote computing system, data usable by usercomponent 118A to traverse a particular portion of a roadway. Inaccordance with techniques of this disclosure, the data may be based atleast in part on roadway condition data generated by anotherelectrically powered scooter that indicates a roadway condition for theparticular portion of the roadway. User component 118A may cause controlcomponent 144 to perform, based at least in part on the data usable bythe computing device to traverse the particular portion of the roadway,at least one operation. In some examples, the at least one operation mayinclude generating an output or changing an operation of a micromobilitydevice. An output generated by user component 118A may include at leastone of visual output, audible output, or haptic output. In someexamples, the output may be based on or in response to a roadwaycondition that the micromobility device is approaching.

FIG. 10 is a block diagram illustrating an example computing device, inaccordance with one or more aspects of the present disclosure. FIG. 10illustrates only one example of a computing device. Many other examplesof computing device 116A may be used in other instances and may includea subset of the components included in example computing device 116A ormay include additional components not shown example computing device116A in FIG. 10. The one or more devices of FIG. 10 may implementtechniques, articles, and systems of this disclosure.

As shown in the example of FIG. 10, computing device 116A may belogically divided into user space 202, kernel space 204, and hardware206. Hardware 206 may include one or more hardware components thatprovide an operating environment for components executing in user space202 and kernel space 204. User space 202 and kernel space 204 mayrepresent different sections or segmentations of memory, where kernelspace 204 provides higher privileges to processes and threads than userspace 202. For instance, kernel space 204 may include operating system220, which operates with higher privileges than components executing inuser space 202.

As shown in FIG. 10, hardware 206 includes one or more processors 208,input components 210, storage devices 212, communication units 214,output components 216, and sensors 117. Processors 208, input components210, storage devices 212, communication units 214, output components216, and sensors 1117 may each be interconnected by one or morecommunication channels 218. Communication channels 218 may interconnecteach of the components 208, 210, 212, 214, 216, and 117 and othercomponents for inter-component communications (physically,communicatively, and/or operatively). In some examples, communicationchannels 218 may include a hardware bus, a network connection, one ormore inter-process communication data structures, or any othercomponents for communicating data between hardware and/or software.

One or more processors 208 may implement functionality and/or executeinstructions within computing device 116A. For example, processors 208on computing device 116A may receive and execute instructions stored bystorage devices 212 that provide the functionality of componentsincluded in kernel space 204 and user space 202. These instructionsexecuted by processors 208 may cause computing device 116A to storeand/or modify information, within storage devices 212 during programexecution. Processors 208 may execute instructions of components inkernel space 204 and user space 202 to perform one or more operations inaccordance with techniques of this disclosure. That is, componentsincluded in user space 202 and kernel space 204 may be operable byprocessors 208 to perform various functions described herein.

One or more input components 210 of computing device 116A may receiveinput. Examples of input are tactile, audio, kinetic, and optical input,to name only a few examples. Input components 210 of computing device116A, in one example, include a voice responsive system, video camera,buttons, control pad, microphone or any other type of device fordetecting input from a human or machine. In some examples, inputcomponent 210 may be a presence-sensitive input component, which mayinclude a presence-sensitive screen, touch-sensitive screen, etc.

One or more communication units 214 of computing device 116A maycommunicate with external devices by transmitting and/or receiving data.For example, computing device 116A may use communication units 214 totransmit and/or receive radio signals on a radio network such as acellular radio network. In some examples, communication units 214 maytransmit and/or receive satellite signals on a satellite network such asa Global Positioning System (GPS) network. Examples of communicationunits 214 include a DSRC transceiver, an optical transceiver, a radiofrequency transceiver, a GPS receiver, or any other type of device thatcan send and/or receive information. Other examples of communicationunits 214 may include Bluetooth®, GPS, 3G, 4G, and Wi-Fi® radios foundin mobile devices as well as Universal Serial Bus (USB) controllers andthe like.

One or more output components 216 of computing device 116A may generateoutput. Examples of output are tactile, audio, and video output. Outputcomponents 216 of computing device 116A, in some examples, include apresence-sensitive screen, sound card, video graphics adapter card,speaker, cathode ray tube (CRT) monitor, liquid crystal display (LCD),or any other type of device for generating output to a human or machine.Output components may include display components such as a liquidcrystal display (LCD), a Light-Emitting Diode (LED) or any other type ofdevice for generating tactile, audio, and/or visual output. Outputcomponents 216 may be integrated with computing device 116A in someexamples.

In other examples, output components 216 may be physically external toand separate from computing device 116A but may be operably coupled tocomputing device 116A via wired or wireless communication. An outputcomponent may be a built-in component of computing device 116A locatedwithin and physically connected to the external packaging of computingdevice 116A (e.g., a screen on a mobile phone). In another example, apresence-sensitive display may be an external component of computingdevice 116A located outside and physically separated from the packagingof computing device 116A (e.g., a monitor, a projector, etc. that sharesa wired and/or wireless data path with a tablet computer).

Output components 216 may also include control component 144, inexamples where computing device 116A is onboard an electrically poweredscooter. Control component 144 has the same functions as controlcomponent 144 described in other examples of this disclosure.

One or more storage devices 212 within computing device 116A may storeinformation for processing during operation of computing device 116A. Insome examples, storage device 212 is a temporary memory, meaning that aprimary purpose of storage device 212 is not long-term storage. Storagedevices 212 on computing device 116A may configured for short-termstorage of information as volatile memory and therefore not retainstored contents if deactivated. Examples of volatile memories includerandom access memories (RAM), dynamic random-access memories (DRAM),static random-access memories (SRAM), and other forms of volatilememories known in the art.

Storage devices 212, in some examples, also include one or morecomputer-readable storage media. Storage devices 212 may be configuredto store larger amounts of information than volatile memory. Storagedevices 212 may further be configured for long-term storage ofinformation as non-volatile memory space and retain information afteractivate/off cycles. Examples of non-volatile memories include magnetichard discs, optical discs, floppy discs, flash memories, or forms ofelectrically programmable memories (EPROM) or electrically erasable andprogrammable (EEPROM) memories. Storage devices 212 may store programinstructions and/or data associated with components included in userspace 202 and/or kernel space 204.

As shown in FIG. 10, application 228 executes in user space 202 ofcomputing device 116A. Application 228 may be logically divided intopresentation layer 222, application layer 224, and data layer 226.Presentation layer 222 may include user interface (UI) component 124,which generates and renders user interfaces of application 228.Application 228 may include, but is not limited to: UI component 124,interpretation component 118A, security component 120, and one or moreservice components 122. For instance, application layer 224 mayinterpretation component 118A, service component 122, and securitycomponent 120. Presentation layer 222 may include UI component 124.

Data layer 226 may include one or more datastores. A datastore may storedata in structure or unstructured form. Example datastores may be anyone or more of a relational database management system, onlineanalytical processing database, table, or any other suitable structurefor storing data.

Service data 233 may include any data to provide and/or resulting fromproviding a service of service component 122. For instance, service data233 may include information about infrastructure articles 107, userinformation, operating rule sets, or any other information transmittedbetween one or more components of computing device 116A. Operating data236 may include instructions for scooter operating rule sets foroperating electrically powered scooter 110A.

Sensor data 232 may include infrastructure and/or road condition data,such as image data, signature data, or any other data indicative ofinfrastructure proximate to electrically powered scooter 110A. Forexample, communication units 214 may receive, from an image sensor 102,image data indicative of infrastructure and/or road conditions proximateto electrically powered scooter 110A and may store the image data insensor data 232. Image data may include one or more images that arereceived from one or more image sensors, such as image sensors 102. Insome examples, the images are bitmaps, Joint Photographic Experts Groupimages (JPEGs), Portable Network Graphics images (PNGs), or any othersuitable graphics file formats. In some examples, the image dataincludes images of one or more road conditions and/or infrastructurearticles. In one example, the image data includes images of one or morearticle message 126 associated with one or more infrastructure articles.

In some examples, user component 118A causes control component 144 toadjust control of electrically powered scooter 110A based on datareceived from one or more devices such as a remote computing system orinfrastructure article. Control component 144 may change the operationof an electrically powered scooter. For example, interpretationcomponent 118A may cause control component 144 to adjust operation ofthe electric motor and/or adjust operation of the braking assembly(e.g., to adjust a speed of electrically powered scooter 110A). In someexamples, user component 118A causes control component 144 to adjustcontrol of electrically powered scooter 110A based on data generated byone or more components or modules in computing device 116A.

FIG. 11 is a conceptual diagram of an electrically powered scooter 110A,in accordance with techniques of this disclosure. Electrically poweredscooter 110A include a chassis 402, a rear wheel 404, a front wheel 406,and a steering assembly 408. Chassis 402 includes chassis support member412 extending substantially horizontally between a rear-wheel mount 414at one end of chassis 402 and a front-wheel mount 416 at another end ofchassis 402 that is opposite the rear-wheel mount 414. The one or moredevices of FIG. 11 may implement techniques, articles, and systems ofthis disclosure.

In the example of FIG. 11, rear wheel 404 is mounted to rear wheel mount414 and front wheel 406 is mounted to front wheel mount 416. Front wheel406 is mounted to front wheel mount 416 for turning steering movementwith respect to the front wheel mount 406 and rear wheel 404. Frontwheel mount 416 may be coupled to steering assembly 408. Steeringassembly 408 may extend generally vertically relative to chassis supportmember 412. Steering assembly may be angled relative to chassis supportmember 412. In one example, an angle between chassis support member 412and steering assembly 408 is between approximately 60 degrees toapproximately 90 degrees. Steering assembly 408 may include handlebars410. Steering assembly 408 may be coupled to front wheel mount 416 suchthat turning handlebars 410 may cause front wheel 406 to turn.

Electrically powered scooter 110A includes at least one electric motor420, at least one motor controller 422, and at least one battery 424.Motor controller 422 may be operatively coupled to electric motor 420 todrive rear wheel 404 and/or front wheel 406. In the example of FIG. 11,electric motor 420 is configured to drive rear wheel 404, in someexamples, electric motor 420 may be configured to drive front wheel 406.In one example, electrically powered scooter 110A includes a pluralityof motors that are each configured to drive a respective wheel.

Electrically powered scooter 110A may include a braking apparatus 430.In the example of FIG. 11, braking apparatus 430 is operatively coupledto rear wheel 404 to selectively slow and/or stop rear wheel 404. Insome examples, electrically powered scooter 110A includes a brakingapparatus coupled to front wheel 406.

In accordance with techniques of this disclosure, computing device 116Amay receive data usable by an electrically powered scooter to traverse aparticular portion of a roadway. The data may be based at least in parton roadway condition data generated by a different electrically poweredscooter that indicates a roadway condition for the particular portion ofthe roadway. Computing device 116A may cause electrically poweredscooter 110A to perform, based at least in part on the data to traversethe particular portion of the roadway, at least one operation. Exampleoperations may include generating an output, sending a message, and/orchanging an operation of the electrically powered scooter. In someexamples, computing device 116A may send, to a remote computing system,roadway condition data for a particular portion of the roadway, whereinthe roadway condition data indicates a roadway condition for theparticular portion of the roadway and is generated based at least inpart on one or more sensors communicatively coupled to the computingdevice.

In some examples, techniques and systems of this disclosure may providefor detection and propagation of road conditions using inertial data(accelerometer, gyroscope and magnetometer data) collected bymicro-mobiles coupled with their respective GPS coordinates. Roadconditions may, in some examples, refer to defects of the road networksuch as potholes, pavement cracking, hard turns that require attention,etc. As part of techniques and systems of this disclosure, a computingdevice may receive the aforementioned data from the micro-mobile probesat its input and generate a micro-mobile-centric infrastructure qualitymap or structure data that could be represented on a map. Using historicand/or real-time data harvested by the micro-mobile probes (e.g.,sensors), an information network is established that provides alerts tomicro-mobiles about areas where increased attention is needed and areasto avoid. Furthermore, this technique presents an incentive mechanismaccording to which routes passing through areas for which small amountsof information is available are incentivized so that more micro-mobilesdrive them.

In some examples, micromobility devices collect and emit information(e.g., in real-time) about the quality of their trajectory which can bestored at a remote computing system, such as a server or the cloudplatform, along with relevant historic data. The remote computing systemmay receive this information and process it in order to generate aninfrastructure quality map (or structured data representation of themap) which uses or illustrates the harvested probe trajectory data. Theinfrastructure quality map or structured data representation may beprocessed to identify locations associated with smoother (e.g., lesscomplex or less risky) trajectories as well as areas where the pavementhas degraded to a certain level of discomfort for the micro-mobileoperator.

In some examples, a communication network may be established amongstmicromobility devices as well as remote locations. The communicatenetwork may propagate the infrastructure quality data in the form ofwarnings and recommendations such that micromobility operators and/orcomputing devices that process the data can make more informed decisionsabout potential routes. An external connection to this network can alsobe established with authorities responsible for restoring the quality ofareas that have been identified as exhibiting high degradation of thequality of the pavement.

In some examples, techniques of this disclosure may provide incentivesthat allows for the prioritization of routes passing through areas forwhich existing data are not available at a sufficient granularity. Suchinformation and techniques may also be implemented in computing devicesaccessed by entities responsible for measuring the effectiveness ofscheduled maintenance procedures by incentivizing the operators of themicromobility devices to route through recently maintained orconstructed areas.

In some examples, a computing device may determine which areas ofinfrastructure are high quality or lower risk to the operation ofmicro-mobiles and then to change or incentivize the operation of themicro-mobile to a lower risk infrastructure layout or highinfrastructure quality area. A computing device may collectinfrastructure and layout information that is relevant to micromobilityoperation. A computing device that uses that information to determineinfrastructure quality and layout factors and to determine how to changeor influence the state or operation of micromobility devices through anenvironment. A computing device may collect information related to theinfrastructure quality and layout as it relates to the operation of amicromobility device could inform riders or route applications of routesto take that may be safer due to higher quality infrastructure andlayout. A computing device may inform riders operating in lower qualityinfrastructure of areas and objects to avoid (blind corners, potholes,raised pavement) as they operate through the environment.

In one or more examples, the functions described may be implemented inhardware, software, firmware, or any combination thereof. If implementedin software, the functions may be stored on or transmitted over, as oneor more instructions or code, a computer-readable medium and executed bya hardware-based processing unit. Computer-readable media may includecomputer-readable storage media, which corresponds to a tangible mediumsuch as data storage media, or communication media including any mediumthat facilitates transfer of a computer program from one place toanother, e.g., according to a communication protocol. In this manner,computer-readable media generally may correspond to (1) tangiblecomputer-readable storage media, which is non-transitory or (2) acommunication medium such as a signal or carrier wave. Data storagemedia may be any available media that can be accessed by one or morecomputers or one or more processors to retrieve instructions, codeand/or data structures for implementation of the techniques described inthis disclosure. A computer program product may include acomputer-readable medium.

By way of example, and not limitation, such computer-readable storagemedia can include RAM, ROM, eEPROM, CD-ROM or other optical diskstorage, magnetic disk storage, or other magnetic storage devices, flashmemory, or any other medium that can be used to store desired programcode in the form of instructions or data structures and that can beaccessed by a computer. Also, any connection is properly termed acomputer-readable medium. For example, if instructions are transmittedfrom a website, server, or other remote source using a coaxial cable,fiber optic cable, twisted pair, digital subscriber line (DSL), orwireless technologies such as infrared, radio, and microwave, then thecoaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, DSL, or wirelesstechnologies such as infrared, radio, and microwave are included in thedefinition of medium. It should be understood, however, thatcomputer-readable storage media and data storage media do not includeconnections, carrier waves, signals, or other transient media, but areinstead directed to non-transient, tangible storage media. Disk anddisc, as used, includes compact disc (CD), laser disc, optical disc,digital versatile disc (DVD), floppy disk and Blu-ray disc, where disksusually reproduce data magnetically, while discs reproduce dataoptically with lasers. Combinations of the above should also be includedwithin the scope of computer-readable media.

Instructions may be executed by one or more processors, such as one ormore digital signal processors (DSPs), general purpose microprocessors,application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), field programmablelogic arrays (FPGAs), or other equivalent integrated or discrete logiccircuitry. Accordingly, the term “processor”, as used may refer to anyof the foregoing structure or any other structure suitable forimplementation of the techniques described. In addition, in someaspects, the functionality described may be provided within dedicatedhardware and/or software modules. Also, the techniques could be fullyimplemented in one or more circuits or logic elements.

The techniques of this disclosure may be implemented in a wide varietyof devices or apparatuses, including a wireless handset, an integratedcircuit (IC) or a set of ICs (e.g., a chip set). Various components,modules, or units are described in this disclosure to emphasizefunctional aspects of devices configured to perform the disclosedtechniques, but do not necessarily require realization by differenthardware units. Rather, as described above, various units may becombined in a hardware unit or provided by a collection ofinteroperative hardware units, including one or more processors asdescribed above, in conjunction with suitable software and/or firmware.

It is to be recognized that depending on the example, certain acts orevents of any of the methods described herein can be performed in adifferent sequence, may be added, merged, or left out altogether (e.g.,not all described acts or events are necessary for the practice of themethod). Moreover, in certain examples, acts or events may be performedconcurrently, e.g., through multi-threaded processing, interruptprocessing, or multiple processors, rather than sequentially.

In some examples, a computer-readable storage medium includes anon-transitory medium. The term “non-transitory” indicates, in someexamples, that the storage medium is not embodied in a carrier wave or apropagated signal. In certain examples, a non-transitory storage mediumstores data that can, over time, change (e.g., in RAM or cache).

Radar-optical fusion article 108, in accordance with techniques of thisdisclosure, provides conspicuity to substrate 114 to which article 108is attached. The information received from article 108 may be used byvehicles 110, infrastructure articles 104, other micro-mobility devices106, or pedestrians 112 to be more aware of their surroundings and avoidcollisions. In some instances, article 108 enables fastercharacterization of substrate 114 as monitoring system 116 controlsfirst transceiver 602 to process only a particular region within thefield of view of first transceiver 602. Further, monitoring system 116enables edge computing and may result in power saving.

Various examples have been described. These and other examples arewithin the scope of the following claims.

1. A radar-optical fusion article for attachment to a substrate, theradar-optical fusion article comprising: a first retroreflective layerconfigured to retroreflect at least a portion of light having awavelength in a range from about 400 nm to about 2500 nm; and a secondretroreflective layer disposed adjacent to the first retroreflectivelayer, the second retroreflective layer configured to retroreflect atleast a portion of an electromagnetic wave having a frequency in a rangefrom about 0.5 GHz to about 100 GHz.
 2. The radar-optical fusion articleof claim 1, wherein the retroreflected light from the firstretroreflective layer has a wavelength in a range from about 700 nm toabout 2500 nm.
 3. The radar-optical fusion article of claim 1, whereinthe retroreflected electromagnetic wave from the second retroreflectivelayer has a frequency in the range from about 75 GHz to about 81 GHz. 4.The radar-optical fusion article of claim 1, wherein the retroreflectedlight from the first retroreflective layer comprises a light signatureassociated with the substrate.
 5. The radar-optical fusion article ofclaim 4, wherein the light signature is based on at least one of aspatial pattern, a wavelength-selective signature, an angle-dependentsignature and a polarization-specific signature.
 6. The radar-opticalfusion article of claim 4, wherein the light signature is indicative ofat least one of a location of the substrate, a type of the substrate,and an environment of the substrate.
 7. The radar-optical fusion articleof claim 1, wherein the retroreflected electromagnetic wave from thesecond retroreflective layer comprises a radar signature associated withthe substrate.
 8. The radar-optical fusion article of claim 7, whereinthe radar signature is at least one of a frequency signature, apolarization signature, a temporal signature and an angle-dependentsignature.
 9. The radar-optical fusion article of claim 1, wherein thesubstrate is a physical surface of a vehicle, an infrastructure article,a micro-mobility device, a building, a human, a clothing article, or awearable article.
 10. The radar-optical fusion article of claim 1further comprising a filter layer disposed between the firstretroreflective layer and the second retroreflective layer, the filterlayer comprising a plurality of elements configured to provide afiltered signal including an electromagnetic signature associated withthe substrate.
 11. The radar-optical fusion article of claim 10, whereinthe electromagnetic signature is at least one of a frequency signature,a polarization signature, a temporal signature, and an angle-dependentsignature.
 12. The radar-optical fusion article of claim 10, whereineach of the plurality of elements of the filter layer is in the shape ofa ring, a square, a dipole, a crossed dipole, a tripole, or a Jerusalemcross.
 13. A micro-mobility device comprising: a chassis having a rearwheel mount at one end and a front wheel mount at the other end with achassis support member extending therebetween; a chassis-supported rearwheel mounted to the rear wheel mount; a chassis-supported front wheelmounted to the front wheel mount for turning steering movement withrespect to the front wheel mount and the chassis-supported rear wheel; achassis-supported motor physically coupled to the chassis and configuredby a motor controller to drive at least one of the chassis-supportedfront wheel or the chassis-supported rear-wheel for powered movementover a ground surface; and a radar-optical fusion article attached to atleast a portion of the micro-mobility device, the radar-optical fusionarticle comprising: a first retroreflective layer configured toretroreflect at least a portion of light having a wavelength in a rangefrom about 400 nm to about 2500 nm; and a second retroreflective layerdisposed adjacent to the first retroreflective layer, the secondretroreflective layer configured to retroreflect at least a portion ofan electromagnetic wave having a frequency in a range from about 0.5 GHzto about 100 GHz.
 14. The micro-mobility device of claim 13, wherein theretroreflected light from the first retroreflective layer has awavelength in a range from about 700 nm to about 2500 nm.
 15. Themicro-mobility device of claim 13, wherein the retroreflectedelectromagnetic wave from the second retroreflective layer has afrequency in a range from about 75 GHz to about 81 GHz.
 16. Themicro-mobility device of claim 13 further comprising a steering assemblycoupled to the chassis-supported front wheel, wherein the radar-opticalfusion article is attached to the steering assembly.
 17. Themicro-mobility device of claim 13, wherein the retroreflected light fromthe first retroreflective layer comprises a light signature associatedwith the micro-mobility device.
 18. The micro-mobility device of claim17, wherein the light signature is based on at least one of a spatialpattern, a wavelength-selective signature, an angle-dependent signature,and a polarization-specific signature.
 19. The micro-mobility device ofclaim 17, wherein the light signature is indicative of a location of themicro-mobility device.
 20. The micro-mobility device of claim 13 furthercomprising a filter layer disposed between the first retroreflectivelayer and the second retroreflective layer, the filter layer comprisinga plurality of elements configured to provide a filtered signalincluding an electromagnetic signature associated with the substrate.21. The micro-mobility device of claim 20, wherein the electromagneticsignature is at least one of a frequency signature, a polarizationsignature, a temporal signature, and an angle-dependent signature.